Houston Rockets' James Harden, left, and Minnesota Timberwolves' Jimmy Butler stare at the ball during the first half of Game 4 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 23, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Minnesota Timberwolves' Jeff Teague, center, goes high to make a pass as Houston Rockets' PJ Tucker, right, tries to reach him during the first half of Game 4 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 23, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Houston Rockets' PJ Tucker, right, looms in on Minnesota Timberwolves' Jimmy Butler during the first half of Game 4 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 23, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Houston Rockets' James Harden, right, and Minnesota Timberwolves' Taj Gibson chase a loose ball during the first half of Game 4 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 23, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Houston Rockets' James Harden, front, and Minnesota Timberwolves' Taj Gibson become entangled while chasing the ball during the first half of Game 4 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 23, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Houston Rockets' Trevor Ariza, right, shoots over Minnesota Timberwolves' Taj Gibson during the first half of Game 4 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 23, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Minnesota Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns, left, works his way around Houston Rockets' James Harden during the first half of Game 4 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 23, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Minnesota Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns, left, tries to keep Houston Rockets' PJ Tucker's arm from block a shot during the first half of Game 4 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 23, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Minnesota Timberwolves' Gorgui Dieng, right, of Senegal, shoots and scores on a three-point shot as Houston Rockets' Nene, of Brazil, defends during the first half of Game 4 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 23, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Minnesota Timberwolves' Jimmy Butler, left, shoots over Houston Rockets' Ryan Anderson during the first half of Game 4 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 23, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Minnesota Timberwolves' Jimmy Butler, left, loses the ball as Houston Rockets' PJ Tucker, center, runs into James Harden, right, during the first half of Game 4 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 23, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

For a half, the Timberwolves made 18,000-plus believers out of those in the seats at Target Center.

After scoring a home upset in Game 3, the Wolves trailed Houston by just one point through 24 minutes on Monday in Minneapolis, and Jamal Crawford thought the Wolves weren’t even playing their best ball.

Still, Minnesota seemed to be controlling the pace and tone, and was again slowing Houston’s high-powered offense. Another Target Center sellout crowd was roaring. The impossible was seemingly becoming reality — the Wolves were legitimately pushing top-seeded Houston in this best-of-7 series. Until they weren’t.

Twelve minutes and 50 Houston points later, the game, and with it likely the series, was over.

Led by 22 third-quarter points from James Harden, the Rockets outscored the Wolves 50-20 in the frame, marking the second highest scoring quarter in playoff history, outdone only by the 51 the Lakers dropped on Detroit back in 1962.

Houston dropped Minnesota 119-100 on Monday night — and it wasn’t that close — to claim a 3-1 series lead and put Minnesota’s 2017-18 campaign in peril. Game 5 will be played Wednesday night in Houston, though it feels like a formality at this point — a chance for the Rockets to put the final nail in the Wolves’ coffin.

“We’ve had two really bad quarters,” Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said.

The two he’s referring to came in the third quarter Monday and the second quarter in Game 2, in which the Wolves were outscored 37-17 en route to the first Houston blowout of the series. Other than that, Minnesota has went toe to toe with Houston, but that’s kind of the problem.

The Wolves have to play such perfect basketball to punch in the Rockets’ weight class, and as they’ve shown on many occasions, they’re not a perfect team. It’s not surprising that Houston finally erupted in the third quarter. It was more surprising that the Wolves’ spotty defense held Houston in check for the better part of the 14 quarters played prior.

Yes, the Rockets got hot, but part of that was because the Wolves’ defense of much of this season reared its ugly head over those 12 minutes. Jimmy Butler said Minnesota came out “lackadaisical” to open the second half. Andrew Wiggins said the Wolves made mistakes. Houston took advantage of all of it. After Harden missed on Houston’s first possession of the quarter, the Rockets proceeded to score on 11 straight possessions. In that time, Houston’s lead grew from one point to 23.

“They put the ball in the basket, we didn’t. They made stops, we didn’t. And the game got out of control very quickly,” Butler said. “We did a good job of containing in the first half, we didn’t do a great job of containing in the third quarter, and that was the difference in the game. Fifty points in a quarter is a lot of points. … That can’t happen.

The Rockets shot 61 percent from the field in the third frame, including 69 percent from 3-point range.

“We didn’t take anything away from them and they got whatever shot that they wanted,” Butler said. “Whenever that happens, they score 50 points in a quarter.”

That quarter essentially erased all of Minnesota’s previous efforts in this series. In 12 minutes, Minnesota went from the possibility of knotting the No. 1-8 series up at 2-2 to digging itself a seemingly insurmountable 3-1 hole.

The same Target Center fans that were so jubilant early in the night slowly, and silently sifted out of the arena throughout the fourth quarter, not knowing if they’d be back to watch the Wolves again this season.

“It’s disappointing, obviously, because we had a golden opportunity,” Crawford said. “Not saying it can’t be done, we’ve just got to do it the hard way.”

BRIEFLY

Jeff Teague dislocated the pinky finger on his right hand in the first quarter, but returned in the second quarter. Tyus Jones missed the game with knee soreness.

Jace has covered a slew of sports since he joined the Pioneer Press in May 2015, but his primary duty is covering high schools. Jace enjoys the beat, even though he's been mistaken for a student on multiple occasions.

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